Picking Up 12 Years Later

By

Alexandra Alter

July 22, 2011

"Reservation Road," John Burnham Schwartz's 1998 novel about the aftermath of a fatal hit and run, doesn't end on a cliffhanger. When a 10-year-old boy is hit by a car at the book's opening, the culprit, a tax lawyer, reveals himself immediately to the reader. A long, excruciating confrontation between the boy's family and the lawyer's ensues, until the story reaches a cathartic conclusion.

But for years after he released the novel, Mr. Schwartz fielded questions from readers about what became of the characters:...